In the past two days the internet has been buzzing over this video on the Kenyan vlogger’s use of the Kenyan Anthem. The video was discussing their views on some of the greatest national anthems while sampling them for their audience. To their surprise their video was flagged for a copyright infringement claim. Which is what…

It has been a while since I blogged. Perhaps it is because I have been under the impression that Kenyans understand Intellectual Property Law and the rights system that surrounds it. I have been approached with interesting remarks about how IP rights are so obvious and how there is no need for IP attorneys like…

“Africa is the youngest content in terms of the age population and has some challenges to meet the needs of this population.” – Kofi Appenteng, President, Africa-America Institute. Let’s first contextualize key statistics on Education: 1.By 2040, Africa is expected to have the world’s largest labor force, with an estimated working age population of 1…

It is no secret that the book publishing industry in Kenya has suffered huge losses to the cartels that pirate their books. Recently, the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) seized over 10,000 books which are said to be over Kshs. 5.4 million. Tomorrow, the 31st of March 2017, KECOBO shall be destroying the books that were…

Once upon a time, I had a conversation with a Kenyan fashion designer. I was rather curious as to whether he has ever sought legal counsel for his business. His reply was rather puzzling. “Clothes are just clothes” he said. “Who needs a lawyer in fashion?” he retorted. At the time of this conversation, my…

If I had started my new column Fashion Law 3 years ago, you would have all been wondering whether I am making my own areas of law up. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, dudes and duddettes. Fashion Law is a thing. An area of law that has been there for quite some time and the likes…

Where do I start? To put it mildly, the proposed piece of legislation by the Kenya Film Classification Board has got to be the joke of the century! I have read its contents and I am equally amused as I am dismayed and possibly heartbroken by the repercussions this legislation would have if passed. The…

I had a very interesting afternoon today. I attended the side event being hosted by HEVA Fund in partnership with UNCTAD14, HIVOS, UNDP, USAID and FORUM SYD. Having been an active lawyer in the Kenyan creative economy for close to 6 years now, I am a little surprised that we are still tackling issues of…

“People recognise intellectual property the same way they recognise real estate. People understand what property is. But it’s a new kind of property, and so the understanding uses new control surfaces. It uses a new way of defining the property.”

We have all watched the video released by Elani #ElaniSpeaks a few days ago. There are a few issues I would love to blog about that came out in the video. However, for Part 1, I will start with the always controversial topic: Royalties and Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK). Anyone who follows the…

Have you read the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms? If you haven’t, you should. As Africans and Kenyans as a whole, we face the risk of our voices being silenced. This Declaration is a genius idea to document some of the rights we have taken for granted in the digital space. The Declaration…